Title :
Latent reliability degradation of ultra-thin oxides after heavy ion and γ-ray irradiation
Author :
Wang, B. ; Suehle, J.S. ; Vogel, E.M. ; Conley, J.R., Jr. ; Weintraub, C.E. ; Johnston, A.H. ; Bernstein, J.B.
Author_Institution :
Center for Reliability Eng., Maryland Univ., College Park, MD, USA
Abstract :
We studied the effects of heavy ion and γ-ray irradiation on radiation-induced leakage current (RILC) and time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) life distributions of ultra-thin oxides (<3.5 nm). Thermal annealing experiments were carried out on irradiated devices to study the nature of RILC. TDDB experiments were also performed on irradiated devices with thermal annealing. Our results show that gamma irradiation had a minimal effect on intrinsic TDDB lifetime of ultra-thin oxides. However, heavy ion irradiation induced RILC and substantially reduced the lifetime of ultra-thin oxide films. Thermal annealing experiments suggests that RILC is due to trapped holes. Removal of RILC (and holes) do not improve TDDB lifetime
Keywords :
annealing; dielectric thin films; electric breakdown; gamma-ray effects; ion beam effects; leakage currents; reliability; silicon compounds; 3.5 nm; SiO2; SiO2 film; gamma-ray irradiation; heavy ion irradiation; latent reliability degradation; life distribution; radiation-induced leakage current; thermal annealing; time-dependent dielectric breakdown; ultra-thin oxide; Annealing; Degradation; Dielectric breakdown; Electric breakdown; Ionizing radiation; Leakage current; MOS capacitors; Microelectronics; NIST; Testing;
Conference_Titel :
Integrated Reliability Workshop Final Report, 2001. 2001 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Lake Tahoe, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7167-4
DOI :
10.1109/.2001.993910
